Published: May 05, 2008 09:44 am            

Uruguay official visits OU to set up exchange agreements

NORMAN, Okla. — The Undersecretary of Education and Culture for Uruguay was in Norman recently to explore potential exchanges between his country and the University of Oklahoma.

While in Norman, Dr. Felipe Michelini visited the OU campus, including the College of Law.

Michelini said his visit opened up a new relationship between OU and Uruguay.

“It shows a concrete path to make this thing real,” he said in a brief interview Friday.

Michelini’s visit was a follow-up to a visit to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, last August by Dr. Millie C. Audas, director of Education Abroad and International Student Services.

“We are considering linkages with several universities in Montevideo,” Audas said. OU has 174 university exchange agreements in 66 countries. OU does not have any university exchange agreements in Uruguay yet, but OU now has an exchange agreement pending with Catholic University of Montevideo since Audas’ visit.

Uruguay is a nontraditional site for U.S. students to study abroad in Latin America, Audas said. Places like Brazil, Peru, Venezuala and Chile are more popular, but OU is hoping to expand their Latin American exchanges, she said.

“There is a tremendous demand from our students to go to Spanish-speaking universities,” she said.

Study abroad in Uruguay would be a great opportunity for OU students to be immersed in Spanish language and culture, she said.

“So it was great meeting with someone who will make a difference,” Audas said of Michelini’s visit.

Michelini met with officials at the College of Law and the main campus’ international programs.

In his official capacity, Michelini will go back to Uruguay and promote further understanding with OU. The exchanges may include undergraduate and graduate student exchange, collaboration in research or faculty exchange, Audas said.

“He was very, very impressed with the law school facilities and the University of Oklahoma facilities as well,” said Ken Feagins, director of office accountability systems and the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Feagins, who studied law with Michelini at Columbia, showed Michelini around Norman.

In addition to OU, Michelini visited with Native Americans at the Jacobson House about a possible cultural exchange, Feagins said. He also got to meet Vice President Dick Cheney in Tulsa.

This wasn’t Michelini’s first visit to Oklahoma, though. He came in 2000 to visit Feagins and his wife.

Michelini said he enjoyed his visit to Norman. Oklahoma and Uruguay are similar, he said. They are both about the same size and depend on agriculture.

“The difference may be Oklahoma has gas and oil and we have the sea,” Michelini said.

He said Oklahoma and Uruguay also are similar in that they are located near another entity that sometimes overshadows it (Texas and Argentina, respectively).



Julianna Parker writes for the Norman (Okla.) Transcript.